Trump prioritizes ceasefire in upcoming US-Russia summit

WASHINGTON, United States (MNTV) – US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin to bear dire consequences provided he fails to end the Ukraine war following their summit in Alaska on Friday.

Following the US President’s virtual meeting with European leaders, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the United  States wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he told the leaders that Putin was bluffing ahead of the summit with Trump.

Zelenskyy said, “Putin is trying to apply pressure on all sectors of the Ukrainian front” in an attempt to show that Russia is “capable of occupying all of Ukraine.”

Putin persuades as if sanctions do not matter for him and are ineffective. In reality, sanctions are very helpful and are hitting Russia’s war economy hard, Zelenskyy said.

Following the video conference between Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders, Macron said Trump was prioritizing a cease-fire between Ukraine and Russia. He added that Trump had been clear that “territorial issues relating to Ukraine will only be negotiated by the Ukrainian president.”

Macron said that Trump would seek a tripartite meeting between Trump, Putin and Zelenskyy after the summit.

The French President said he thought that was a very important point and they hoped it could be held in Europe, in a neutral country that would be acceptable to all parties.

Convener of the virtual meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz wanted to make sure European and Ukrainian leaders were heard prior to the summit, where Trump and Putin were expected to discuss a path toward ending the Ukraine war.

In his meeting with Zelensky Merz qualified the meeting with the US president as constructive and expressed his hope that important decisions could be made in Alaska; however, Merz said that fundamental European and Ukrainian security concerns must be protected at the summit.

Prior to his arrival in Berlin, the Ukrainian president said his government had over 30 meetings with European partners ahead of the summit in Alaska, but voiced his doubts that the Russian president would negotiate in a good faith.